Ft. Worth AGM 2011 – Part I

This years AGM was delightful  for a variety of reasons. Chief among them for the Houston region, was the location. Being able to manage the short drive from Houston allowed many Houstonians to attend. To my knowledge, there were at least seventeen Houston area Janeites in attendance, which is quite a feat.

Hosted at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel in downtown Ft. Worth, the AGM showed all attendees true Texas hospitality. The conference got off to a roaring start on Thursday with a variety of workshops which included not only English Country Dancing, but Country Western Dancing as well. The first non workshop event of the day was the intriguing talk given by the author of “The Mysterious Death of Miss Austen”, Lindsay Ashford.

Attendees were also treated to a fun show with the talk “Managing Muslins in the Modern Millenium”, given by Baronda Bradley of the North Texas Region. During her presentation, Baronda had models who walked about in exquisite costumes. Audience members were also allowed to come up and touch the fabrics and feel what Regency clothes may have felt like.

I will confess that I am partial to the next bit, but I must say that the most fabulous event that day was the afternoon tea at the Women’s Club of Ft. Worth. Sure, you can have tea and treats anywhere, but what made this special was the company. This was the first time that old AGM friends really had a chance to get together with one another and have a good chat. Here is a picture of Houston Janeites with some of our Pennsylvania friends.

Afternoon Tea - Women's Club of Ft. Worth

 

After tea, AGM attendees were invited to learn about “Regency Cosmetics and Esthetics: A Look to Die For” and later on, they high tailed it to Billy Bob’s Honky Tonk for a true Texas treat.

 

By Friday morning, the conference was buzzing with new arrivals coming all the time. By this morning, all of the emporiums were fully staffed and constantly crowded with shoppers. Yes, you read correctly. ALL of the emporiums. This years AGM featured three wonderful emporiums which included two Regency Emporiums as well as a Texas Emporium. I would be willing to bet that most Janeites spent equal amounts of time in the conference sessions as well as the emporium.

 

Rest assured, we were not the only ones intrigued by the emporium.

 

 

 

BBC Film Crew at the Emporium

 

Friday continued with the start of the breakout sessions and a variety of plenary speakers. From a talk on whether or not Marianne sang Scott songs to a talk given by the curator of the Jane Austen House museum, Janeites were sure to have plenty fascinating options to pick from. A particular favorite breakout session amongst several members of JASNA was “Ports of the Period”, where audience members were invited to sample different ports. After the sessions for the day were over, Houston Janeites convened for a nice group dinner at a lovely little Mexican restaurant just accross the street from the hotel. And finally, the days wonderful events were rounded out by a Sense and Sensibility movie marathon, where modern interpretations of the classic tale were screened.

 

So…have we tempted you to NYC in 2012 yet? Check back in a few days for Part II and see if you can resist the temptation then

 

 

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